BIOGRAPHY

AT THE NEXUS OF IMPROVISATION, FREE JAZZ, ROCK, METAL AND MIDDLE EASTERN MUSICS
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Dill has performed in solo concerts throughout Europe since 1992 in both improvised music and guitar circles at such venues and festivals as FMP’s Total Music Meeting, Nickelsdorf, Wirral Guitar Festival, Paderborn Guitar Festival, Zuid Nederlands Jazz Festival, Festival HispanoAmericano de la Guitarra, Erlbach, and others.

His initial music – an intense and unique convergence of traditional flamenco and Middle Eastern elements and modern free improvisation – won critical praise with recordings such as Warning Clothed in Bright Robes of Dawn, Sangre Del Rio and Six Peaces (his debut on the oud), paving the way for his hallmark approach of combining modern and traditional improvising techniques within a deep immersion of various cultural musical traditions.

He has worked with Cecil Talyor, Brahim Fribgane, Ramon Lopez, Guus Janssen, J.A. Deane, former students John Dikeman and Ava Mendoza, Jack Wright, John Jasnoch, hip hop duo K.Benally/Letsjustsb and others.

He also maintained the adventurous energy of classic progressive rock and free jazz in such projects as the Stefan Dill Trio’s release Run For Heaven (2002), Sama Duo (with whom he scored the soundtrack for the independent Bengali film Birth Of A Pillow), and the prog/word/funk trio Pray For Brain, which released its debut CD None Of the Above early spring of 2014 on7D Media to critical acclaim.

In 2018, he licensed solo oud tracks for the documentary “Facing History and Ourselves” and in 2019 composed and recorded the score for the Santa Fe Playhouse production of “The Happiest Song Plays Last.”

Current projects include the Middle Eastern jazz funk quartet Love Unfold The Sun, a new Taos-based formation, and a return to acoustic solo work.

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

Paradiso, Santa Fe (May 2019)

Institite for American Indian Arts Music festival, Santa Fe, NM (2016,2017)

NMMA Music Awards Performance (and winner), Sandia Casino, NM,( May 2015)

Juarez International Guitar Fest ( Dec 2014)

Outpost Performance Space, Albuquerque, NM (2012, 2014, 2016)

Roost Series (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016)

Kimo Theatre, Albuquerque, NM, (June 2011)

Fretless Guitar Festival 2008 , NYC (Sept 2008)

Netherlands concerts and Erlbach Gitarren Concert series, Europe (Nov 2002)

High Mayhem Festival, Santa Fe (Oct 2002)

Festival International de la Guitarra Hispanoamericano, Tijuana, Mexico (Nov 1998)

International Gitarren -Festival Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany (Sep 1998)

Kulturhaus Mitte ,Berlin, Germany (Oct 1998, Nov 1995)

Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf, Nickelsdorf, Austria (Sep 1998, Nov 1995)

College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (Mar 1998)

Red Rose Theatre, London, England (Nov 1997)

Other Music Concert Series, Sheffield, England (Nov 1997)

International Guitar Festival of Great Britain, Wirral, England (Nov 1997)

Strings Festival, Chamizal Theatre, El Paso, TX (May 1996)

Knitting Factory, NY, with Cecil Taylor Ensemble (May 1996)

Zuid Nederlands Jazz Festival, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Oct 1995) (solo and duo with Guus Janssen)

FMP Total Music Meeting, Berlin, Germany (Nov 1994)

Hochschule fur Musik Köln, Cologne, Germany (Nov 1994)

Het Appolohuis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Nov 1994)

New Mexico State University , Las Cruces NM (performance and Master class, Jan 1996, Oct 1992)

Reviews

with LUTS/other electric:

“The open improvisations reveal an acute sensitivity ,…, ushering the quartet into one bracing and surprising exploration after another.” Mel Minter, Musically Speaking, April 2019

“[a] kind of post-Milesian electricity of the Davis ’70s bands with a Mid-Eastern sensibility and plenty of freedom. Dill has his own way around the guitar and it has been influenced quite naturally by his own oud work. Everybody gets with it here. It is a good go of things, I would say!” Grego Applegate Edwards, https://gapplegateguitar.blogspot.com, May 2019

“What a shot in the arm the Stefan Dill Trio deliver…. The acerbic jazz-rock captured on Run For Heaven is improvised in its entirety and centres around Stefan Dill’s guitar work, packed with Hendrix inspired blues licks and string bends, coupled with John McLaughlin out there raw energy bursting into beautifully sustained feedback parries with bass and drums, entwined to form this free jazz trio’s bold statement. Elsewhere plump acoustic guitar and bass splish splash through flamenco heat and ice, conjoining in a true fusion….To coin a well known phrase, “it’s music, but not as we know it Jim”. . Julian Derry, review of Six Peaces, Nov 2003

“Flower and Song” is a satisfying and eminently listenable set of duets featuring the 6 and 12 string guitars of Stefan Dill with drummer Dave Wayne, bassist Dave Nielsen, saxophonists John Dikeman and Jack Wright and fellow guitarist John Jasnoch.

There are – perhaps inevitable – echoes of guitarists as diverse as Sharrock and Blood Ulmer, but the urban savagery of the former and the claustrophobic heat-energy of the latter chill out in the high desert air of New Mexico, and nobody’s watching the clock in case the band overruns its studio time.

Stefan Dill, well-versed in classical, jazz, flamenco and rock, is a licks man, meaning not that he throws them in willy-nilly in a display of empty virtuosity, but rather that he knows just the right place to insert them as logical natural developments in his long, unfolding solos. – Dan Warburton, Paris Transatlantic, April 2002

“Loud, burning, skronky stuff (although, they do calm down at times and indulge in some more restrained, quiet passages). It’s all very beautiful if you’re into this sort of thing, definitely for fans of Mahavishnu John McLaughlin and Nels Cline!! Cool.” (for Run For Heaven, 2002)- Aquarius Records

Reviews

with Pray For Brain:

“…an electro-organic feast, enveloping a 3D outlook, spanning Middle Eastern oud-based rock, Indofunk, jazz fusion and hearty doses of improvisation. Here, exceptionally versatile guitarist Mustafa Stefan Dill integrates thrusting King Crimson chord voicings, understated melodies, shades of Americana, Mid-Eastern modalities and performs on the oud as well…. .” Glenn Astarita, AllAboutJazz.com,2/7/2015

“…This instrumental ensemble pushes the envelope and is refreshingly impossible to categorize. Rock, jazz and funk, along with a range of South Asian and Middle Eastern influences, slip between traces of surf, rockabilly and country in a great mix of cultures that twist and turn at the drop of a hat. Here is a jazz/rock composite that will eliminate any preconceived notion of fusion. … This trio is full of endless possibilities.” Alex Brown, Roots World, May 5, 2015

“…These eleven tracks boast plenty of chops, improvisation and a jam-like quality that will keep you guessing where the music will go next….Jam band, jazz fusion and psychedelic overtones abound as Dill’s guitar work absolutely shines. … Fans of fusion music will certainly find something to enjoy with None of the Above. Folks, this one’s a keeper.” Jon Neudorf, Sea of Tranquility, Sept 9 2014

“The playing on this album is complex, focused, and precise. Nelson’s bass playing is mesmerizing, Voorhees plays with hypnotic ease, and Dill’s guitars will knock you out. … Cool heady stuff with balls.” Babysue.com, 6/2/2014

Reviews

acoustic:

“Your music is amazing…stunning. Thank you for your beautiful songs!” Alexia Prichard, filmmaker and executive producer “Facing History and Ourselves”, on licensing MSD solo oud music, November 2018.

” The work of guitarist Stefan Dill is as daring as it is ambitious and satisfying. …These are tensions which propel the music – beyond hearing , which is what it ultimately aspires to- is all to do with the delivering of not just sound, but of a pure experience”. Loretta Summers, World Beat (England), no 6 (April/May 1998)

“..Dill offerierte dem Publikum Flamenco auf hohem Niveau. Dabei sprengte er Form arbeitet mit Dissonanzen und Distanz schaffenden Brüchen. … Dann fand Dill aber auch immer wieder den Weg zur schönen Melodie, zur wunderbaren Blume, die hinter dem Autowrack blüht… ” Lothar Zygar, Neue Westfälische, 28 September 1998 (review of Paderborn Gittarenfest performance)

“Dill’s evocative solo nylon string pieces are an ear-stretching hybrid of Bailey’s stark pointillism and traditional flamenco gestures….full of delicate dynamic shading and poignant silences. Soulful and innovative.” Joe Gore, Guitar Player, May 1998

“Eine mitreißende Tour durch eine andere Welt von Klängen und Inspirationen. Flamenco? Ja – aber einmal ganz anders!” Peter Maier, Gitarre Aktuell, I/98 (No. 60)

“The completeness and extreme originality of guitarist Stefan Dill’s art is more than impressive….He has drawn from all manner of sources: the percussive power of flamenco has a role to play, balancing the expressivity of free jazz and the structural concerns of post – Schoenberg straight music….Crucially, his music is no potpourri: his tastes may be eclectic but he has his own, very distinctive, voice.” Steve Lake, ECM producer, for the FMP Total Music Meeting 1994 programme notes

“…haunting music in a language that floats on the threshold of the unconscious, congratulations!” Roberto Limon, Director, Centro Hispanoamericano de Guitarra, August 1996